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Red Lake Tribal election delayed until next week
By Bill Lawrence
The Red Lake Tribal election originally scheduled for Wednesday May
18th has been put off until next week
tribal officials announced last Monday. Instead, on-site and absentee balloting will be held next Monday and
Tuesday at two off-reservation sites
and on May 25 at polling places on
the Red Lake Reservation.
Last Wednesday's election was delayed due to a legal challenge regarding the residency requirement by
former Red Lake Tribal Chairman
Roger A. Jourdain and at what turned
out to be at tribal council meeting last
Friday a futile attempt to review felony
records of several certified candidates.
According to the Red Lake tribal
constitution a felony record would disqualify a person from holding tribal
office. When a person files for Red
Lake tribal office they are required to
sign an application which includes a
statement attesting to the fact that they
do not have a felony record.
Sources told the PRESS that tribal
officials requested the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) to furnish copies of personal files on all certified
candidates. When the council officials
learned that each individual candidate
would have to personally authorize the
release of their file, the council decided to forgo the review of said files.
However, tribal officials apparently
did learn from FBI sources that two
candidates have felony records and
four or five others have files.
The source told the PRESS that
council chairman Butch Brun, executive secretary Judy Roy, and Red Lake
District Representative Ducker Stately
were branding the four of five candidates with FBI files as "possible felons."
According to an FBI source the
mere fact that a person has an FBI
file doesn't mean that person has a
felony record. Many people acquire a
FBI file as a result of serving in the
military or holding a job that requires
a security clearance. Both require finger printing, which along with most
any other time a person is finger
printed, copies are sent to the FBI.
According to Monday's tribal statement Red Lake enrollees living off the
reservation may request absentee ballots and may cast their votes on the
same day in Duluth and Minneapolis. Times are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the
Minneapolis American Indian Center, 1530 E. Franklin Ave., and 9 a.m.
Tuesday at the Central Hillside Community Center, 12 E. Fourth St., in
Duluth.
Tribal elections on the Red Lake
Reservation will be held 9 a.m. to 7
p.m., May 25 at on-reservation polling places in Ponemah, Redby, Red
Lake and Little Rock districts. Pending changes, candidates certified last
month for tribal office were:
CHAIRMAN:
Walter Jourdain
Archie R. King
Bobby Whitefeather
Bruce Graves
Frank Dickenson
Election/ see page 3
Red Lake tribal election set for next week/ page 1
PPL Inc. not same as PPL Industries, says director/
Voices talk about up coming tribal elections/ page 4 & 5
Publisher recommends candidates for RL election/ pg. 4
Researchers work on miscegenation/ page 8
—
Voice of the Anishinabeg (The People}
M
PPL Inc. not same as PPL Industries, says director
Fifty Cents
By Gary Blair
The following is the PRESS' second article on allegations of employee
mistreatment being leveled against
PPL Industries, Inc. of Minneapolis,
a nonprofit organization which employs primarily Native Americans.
The first piece was carried in the
April 29, 1994, edition and was entitled "Allegations of sexual harassment surface at People Unlimited,
Minneapolis." The article outlined
complaints made by former employees of the cottage industry program
that was developed to assist Indians
find stable employment.
Over six months ago the PRESS
received a phone call from an employee of the now troubled PPL Industries, Inc. This person said she
was a non-Indian and wanted help so
she could keep her job. She said she
was told to contact the PRESS by an
Indian elder. The woman told the
following story:
"He had me pinned against my desk,
he was pushing me backward. He had
his hands inside the top of my dress.
He was pulling at my bra. He was
telling me,' I have to have you.' He
would have raped me, if there hadn't
been one of the production workers
still inside the building. He stopped
when he heard him walking in our
direction."
This person said she was a single
parent and was part of the
oragnization's upper-level management and the person who assaulted
her was her supervisor. She also said
she didn't report the now two-year-
old incident because she was fearful
of losing her job. She said, "After
that, I made sure I was never alone
with him again."
PPL Industries, Inc., is located at
245 - 5th Ave., S. Minneapolis, MN.
Joe Selvaggio, Executive Director of
Project for Pride in Living, an organization often refereed to as PPL, is not
happy with the PRESS' use of the
term when referring to PPL Industries, Inc. He says although his PPL
organization started PPL Industries,
Inc. 13 years ago, the two organizations have been separate for over 11
years. Selvaggio also told the PRESS
this week, "I want you to make sure
thatProjectforPride in Living, which
is also known as PPL is not mistaken
for PPL Industries in your future articles." • According to documents
and additional conversations with
Selvaggio, the parent organization
for PPL Industries, Inc. was Project
for Pride in Living, Inc. However,
just what their relationship is today is
not clear.
Information contained in financial
records dated 1990-1992 obtained
frorn the Minnesota Attorney
General's office shows Project for
Pride in Living, Inc., a nonprofit organization, mentioning PPL Industries, Inc. as part of their financial
PPL Inc/ see page 3
Founded in 19SB
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
1
Volume 5 Issue 47
May eo, 1994
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe New*, 1994
Bruce E. Graves' Presents his election platform
for Chairman of the Red Lake Nation
Hatred and favoritism have been
powerful contributing factors to
destruction of the Red Lake Nation.
All individual's whatever your
preference, must examine their own
attitudes and behavior before you cast
your next ballot. Commit yourselves
to breaking the cycle of violence and
misunderstanding. Our leadership
must overcome hatred and favoritism
in order to provide equal economic
and social success to all of our districts
and urban membership. I commit to
follow these principles and work for
their adoption in every department in
the Red Lake nation. I take this oath:
1. Take steps to understand people
of different political thought, and
discover and to resolve the sources of
our negative assumptions and fears.
2. Promote education, because it is
the first step toward ending a corrupt,
secret government.
3. Welcome people of different
tribal constituents and cultures into
our great nation.
4. Make every effort to ensure that
decision-making and policy represent
the whole nation of people affected by
the decisions.
5. Make sure that neighborhoods,
organizations, institutions, and work
place sponsor events that represent
the cultural richness and history of
the Red Lake Nation.
6. Have and support hiring practices
that are free of bias, and which weed
out individuals who are biased, to
achieve an employee group which
reflects, at all levels, the diversity of
our available workforce.
7. Provide human
Photo by J.C. Ortiz
C Jim Clairmont and spectators tentatively watch dancers at the U of M Pow Wow at East Phillips Park.
Defendants plead innocent to federal illegal
gambling charges
development programs which include
sensitivity training for all members
or employees, promote only tribal and
resources
Graves/ see page 3
Butch Dahl announces candidacy
Boozhoo:
My name is Butch Dahl, you may
have already met me. My wife and I reopened the Bena Standard Station. We
have lived in Bena most of our lives,
w here we have raised our family, and I
am running for District Two
Representative.
We all know about the problems of
health, education, employment,
housing, gaming, etc which have not
been solved by the Leech Lake Tribal
Council. The way I want to start is to
work with our local councils, as they
should have a strong voice in the RTC.
I believe if elected I can make
improvements in some of these areas.
The way it should be accomplished is
to have all District Representatives to
work as a team, for we are the voice of
the people, and we are supposed to
work for the people. Things will not
be changed overnight, but I know
they can be changed. I would like to
discuss a few items that seriously
need our attention.
Our educational system needs
consistent funding support. Our
people go to college for a year and
then receive word that there are no
more funds. When this happens,
these students are not able to continue
their education until maybe the next
year. Our leaders speak of education
but fail to make sure our youth and
others have the funds to carry out
their dreams. Even high school
students need the support of the RTC
so they will excel, but if there is no
future, why should they try? We have
to make sure there are funds for them,
for they are our future.
Our hospital has become a major
concern, and if not taken care of we
will be without accessible health care.
LOS ANGELES (AP) Managers of
a casino on the Morongo Indian
Reservation have pleaded innocent to
federal charges they skimmed $10
million from illegal gambling
machines.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Volney V.
Brown on Monday set bail at $250,000
for each defendant and scheduled trial
for June 29, said Assistant U.S.
Attorney Jonathan Shapiro.
On May 11, a 23-count grand jury
indictment accused Delaware-based
E.C. Investments and four executives
and consultants of running 140 illegal
gambling machines at the Casino
Morongo they ran for the reservation.
Only bingo and certain card games
are allowed at the casino.
The defendants allegedly pocketed
$3.3 million of the estimated $10
million the machines took in since
February 1993 at the Riverside County
casino near Palm Springs, 110 miles
east of Los Angeles, the government
said.
The defendants were charged with
conspiracy, operating an illegal
gambling business, money
laundering, interstate travel in aid of
racketeering and having illegal
gambling devices on Indian land.
The defendants are: E.C. Investments
Inc., also known as Great Western
Casino Inc.; Ira Englander, 66, Los
Angeles; William Armstrong, 41,
Pompano Beach, Fla.; Roger Keesee,
43, Atlanta; and Gyorgy Hargitai, 46,
Budapest, Hungary. Hargitai wasn't in
court and Shapiro wouldn't comment
on his whereabouts.
The case will be tried before U.S.
District Judge Richard A. Gadbois.
Attorney Richard P. Crane Jr., who
represents E.C. Investments, Inc., and
its president, Englander, has called
the prosecution "high-handed action
by the United States."
No members of the Morongo tribe
were indicted, even though the
indictment said the tribal council
granted permission for the gambling
machines.
"Tribal members have cooperated
with and assisted the FBI and U.S.
attorney's office," said attorney
George Forman, who represents the
tribe. If the allegations are true, he
said, "the tribe would feel betrayed by
the company."
Governors, lawmakers press for stricter Indian
gaming regulations
Dahl/
see page 9
Call for support of Oklahoma murder victim
By Shelley Davis
The American Indian Movement in
Oklahoma is calling for all Indian
people and supporters of Indian rights
to come and support the family of
Donald Beartrack, Jr. in a Memorial
Day ceremony to begin at noon at the
Federal Building in Tulsa.
Beartrack was shot in the head at
close range on the morning of March
4, according to authorities. A vehicle
license tag number was written on the
17-year-old's arm in ink and in magic
marker, which led investigators to
three suspects.
Suspect Joe Dale Cox, of Ringling,
is undergoing competency evaluations
but the other two suspects, Bret Lee
Adams, 23, of Watts, and Howard
Russell Murray, 21, of Ringling, were
brought to court for the preliminary
hearing, April 16. All three have been
charged with first degree murder, according to Darrell Dowty, Adair
County Assistant District Attorney.
JoKay Dowell, coordinator for
Northeast Oklahoma ATM, said they
want as many Indians and people who
believe injustice to come in to show
the authorities "we mean business."
"We want to let the authorities know
we don't want any plea bargaining
and we don't want any reduced sentences for these three murderers," said
Dowell. "One of our kids was murdered simply because he's Indian."
Dowell said putting the race issue
aside, this was "a heinous crime and
these people need to be punished for
it. It looks as if the powers that be in
Adair County might, as has always
been, let these guys go."
Before the preliminary hearing be
gan, April 16, a sunrise ceremony was
conducted at the murder site and more
than 50 runners ran about 30 miles to
the courthouse. Upon their arrival,
the family was surrounded by a circle
of supporters and the supporters
prayed.
Julie Moss, Cherokee, said the
Sequoyah High School cross country
running team "carried" the group by
running the entire distance. The week
before the hearing, a "rally for justice"
was conducted at the Adair County
Courthouse. More than 300 people
attended the event.
"We talked about unity, standing up
for ourselves and looking out for our
children," said Dowell "We brought
up the people who have died in jail.
The unsolved, uninvestigated,
Victim/ see page 3
By Melissa B Robinson
WASHINGTON (AP) Rhode
Island's top elected officials Tuesday
asked Congress to stop the
Narragansett Indians from building a
casino in the southern part of the
state.
The officials were among those who
testified at the Senate Select
Committee on Indian Affairs' third
hearing on Indian gaming.
The committee is expected to
propose changes to the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act of 1988 early next
month, and many states and some
federal lawmakers are pushing for
tighter gaming controls.
U.S. Rep. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J.,
repeated his call for federal
regulations, arguing that Indian
gaming has far outgrown
congressional expectations and is ripe
for infiltration by organized crime.
And the nation's governors asked
the panel to spell out the types of
gaming they must consider allowing
on Indian lands.
"Do we have to negotiate on slot
machines even though slot machines
are not allowed by state law?" asked
Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan,
representing the National Governors'
Association.
Indian casinos are regulated by
compacts negotiated between states
and tribes, and the states are required
to let sovereign nations operate the
same types of gaming that nonprofit
groups or businesses are allowed to
run.
However, federal court rulings are
forcing states to negotiate gambling
options with tribes that are not allowed
elsewhere, and Congress must step in
to clarify the issue, the governors
said.
In California, for instance, a federal
district court ruled that the state,
because it runs electronic lottery ticket
dispensers, must negotiate video
gambling on Indian lands, they said.
Senate Indian Affairs Chairman
Daniel Inouye was cool to the
governors' proposal, arguing that the
states are free to outlaw any types of
gaming they don't want tribes, or
anyone else, to ran.
"I cannot believe that any governor
of any state that I am familiar with
would support the federal government
drawing distinctions between certain
categories of games," said Inouye, a
Hawaii Democrat.
The Rhode Islanders, meanwhile,
want Congress to specify that the
Narragansetts' land in Charlestown,
R.I., is subject to state law, which
prohibits most gambling.
A 1978 federal law made the land
subject to state law, but federal courts
have ruled that the 1988 gaming act
takes precedence, opening the door
for the Narragansetts to propose a
casino on their land.
Gov. Bruce Sundlun and Sens.
Claiborne Pell and John Chafee,
however, insist that it was not the
intent of Congress, in passing the
1988 law, to supersede the previous
law.
"Now, the only way to realize the
original intent, and provide what was
promised to Rhode Island, is tc
amend" the gaming law, Sundlun
testified.
The state has opposed the casino
project, but so far federal courts have
sided with the Indians, who believe
the 1988 act gives them the right to
negotiate a gaming compact with the
state.
"The citizens of Charlestown,
Rhode Island face the very real
possibility that a massive, Las Vegas-
style casino will be built in this quiet,
rural town in direct violation of Rhode
Island law," said Chafee, a
Republican.
"They are worried and angry, and
they feel betrayed by the federal
government," he said.

Content and images in this collection may be reproduced and used freely without written permission only for educational purposes. Any other use requires the express written consent of Bemidji State University and the Associated Press. All uses require an acknowledgment of the source of the work.

Red Lake Tribal election delayed until next week
By Bill Lawrence
The Red Lake Tribal election originally scheduled for Wednesday May
18th has been put off until next week
tribal officials announced last Monday. Instead, on-site and absentee balloting will be held next Monday and
Tuesday at two off-reservation sites
and on May 25 at polling places on
the Red Lake Reservation.
Last Wednesday's election was delayed due to a legal challenge regarding the residency requirement by
former Red Lake Tribal Chairman
Roger A. Jourdain and at what turned
out to be at tribal council meeting last
Friday a futile attempt to review felony
records of several certified candidates.
According to the Red Lake tribal
constitution a felony record would disqualify a person from holding tribal
office. When a person files for Red
Lake tribal office they are required to
sign an application which includes a
statement attesting to the fact that they
do not have a felony record.
Sources told the PRESS that tribal
officials requested the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) to furnish copies of personal files on all certified
candidates. When the council officials
learned that each individual candidate
would have to personally authorize the
release of their file, the council decided to forgo the review of said files.
However, tribal officials apparently
did learn from FBI sources that two
candidates have felony records and
four or five others have files.
The source told the PRESS that
council chairman Butch Brun, executive secretary Judy Roy, and Red Lake
District Representative Ducker Stately
were branding the four of five candidates with FBI files as "possible felons."
According to an FBI source the
mere fact that a person has an FBI
file doesn't mean that person has a
felony record. Many people acquire a
FBI file as a result of serving in the
military or holding a job that requires
a security clearance. Both require finger printing, which along with most
any other time a person is finger
printed, copies are sent to the FBI.
According to Monday's tribal statement Red Lake enrollees living off the
reservation may request absentee ballots and may cast their votes on the
same day in Duluth and Minneapolis. Times are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the
Minneapolis American Indian Center, 1530 E. Franklin Ave., and 9 a.m.
Tuesday at the Central Hillside Community Center, 12 E. Fourth St., in
Duluth.
Tribal elections on the Red Lake
Reservation will be held 9 a.m. to 7
p.m., May 25 at on-reservation polling places in Ponemah, Redby, Red
Lake and Little Rock districts. Pending changes, candidates certified last
month for tribal office were:
CHAIRMAN:
Walter Jourdain
Archie R. King
Bobby Whitefeather
Bruce Graves
Frank Dickenson
Election/ see page 3
Red Lake tribal election set for next week/ page 1
PPL Inc. not same as PPL Industries, says director/
Voices talk about up coming tribal elections/ page 4 & 5
Publisher recommends candidates for RL election/ pg. 4
Researchers work on miscegenation/ page 8
—
Voice of the Anishinabeg (The People}
M
PPL Inc. not same as PPL Industries, says director
Fifty Cents
By Gary Blair
The following is the PRESS' second article on allegations of employee
mistreatment being leveled against
PPL Industries, Inc. of Minneapolis,
a nonprofit organization which employs primarily Native Americans.
The first piece was carried in the
April 29, 1994, edition and was entitled "Allegations of sexual harassment surface at People Unlimited,
Minneapolis." The article outlined
complaints made by former employees of the cottage industry program
that was developed to assist Indians
find stable employment.
Over six months ago the PRESS
received a phone call from an employee of the now troubled PPL Industries, Inc. This person said she
was a non-Indian and wanted help so
she could keep her job. She said she
was told to contact the PRESS by an
Indian elder. The woman told the
following story:
"He had me pinned against my desk,
he was pushing me backward. He had
his hands inside the top of my dress.
He was pulling at my bra. He was
telling me,' I have to have you.' He
would have raped me, if there hadn't
been one of the production workers
still inside the building. He stopped
when he heard him walking in our
direction."
This person said she was a single
parent and was part of the
oragnization's upper-level management and the person who assaulted
her was her supervisor. She also said
she didn't report the now two-year-
old incident because she was fearful
of losing her job. She said, "After
that, I made sure I was never alone
with him again."
PPL Industries, Inc., is located at
245 - 5th Ave., S. Minneapolis, MN.
Joe Selvaggio, Executive Director of
Project for Pride in Living, an organization often refereed to as PPL, is not
happy with the PRESS' use of the
term when referring to PPL Industries, Inc. He says although his PPL
organization started PPL Industries,
Inc. 13 years ago, the two organizations have been separate for over 11
years. Selvaggio also told the PRESS
this week, "I want you to make sure
thatProjectforPride in Living, which
is also known as PPL is not mistaken
for PPL Industries in your future articles." • According to documents
and additional conversations with
Selvaggio, the parent organization
for PPL Industries, Inc. was Project
for Pride in Living, Inc. However,
just what their relationship is today is
not clear.
Information contained in financial
records dated 1990-1992 obtained
frorn the Minnesota Attorney
General's office shows Project for
Pride in Living, Inc., a nonprofit organization, mentioning PPL Industries, Inc. as part of their financial
PPL Inc/ see page 3
Founded in 19SB
Ojibwe
News
We Support Equal Opportunity For All People
1
Volume 5 Issue 47
May eo, 1994
A weekly publication.
Copyright, The Ojibwe New*, 1994
Bruce E. Graves' Presents his election platform
for Chairman of the Red Lake Nation
Hatred and favoritism have been
powerful contributing factors to
destruction of the Red Lake Nation.
All individual's whatever your
preference, must examine their own
attitudes and behavior before you cast
your next ballot. Commit yourselves
to breaking the cycle of violence and
misunderstanding. Our leadership
must overcome hatred and favoritism
in order to provide equal economic
and social success to all of our districts
and urban membership. I commit to
follow these principles and work for
their adoption in every department in
the Red Lake nation. I take this oath:
1. Take steps to understand people
of different political thought, and
discover and to resolve the sources of
our negative assumptions and fears.
2. Promote education, because it is
the first step toward ending a corrupt,
secret government.
3. Welcome people of different
tribal constituents and cultures into
our great nation.
4. Make every effort to ensure that
decision-making and policy represent
the whole nation of people affected by
the decisions.
5. Make sure that neighborhoods,
organizations, institutions, and work
place sponsor events that represent
the cultural richness and history of
the Red Lake Nation.
6. Have and support hiring practices
that are free of bias, and which weed
out individuals who are biased, to
achieve an employee group which
reflects, at all levels, the diversity of
our available workforce.
7. Provide human
Photo by J.C. Ortiz
C Jim Clairmont and spectators tentatively watch dancers at the U of M Pow Wow at East Phillips Park.
Defendants plead innocent to federal illegal
gambling charges
development programs which include
sensitivity training for all members
or employees, promote only tribal and
resources
Graves/ see page 3
Butch Dahl announces candidacy
Boozhoo:
My name is Butch Dahl, you may
have already met me. My wife and I reopened the Bena Standard Station. We
have lived in Bena most of our lives,
w here we have raised our family, and I
am running for District Two
Representative.
We all know about the problems of
health, education, employment,
housing, gaming, etc which have not
been solved by the Leech Lake Tribal
Council. The way I want to start is to
work with our local councils, as they
should have a strong voice in the RTC.
I believe if elected I can make
improvements in some of these areas.
The way it should be accomplished is
to have all District Representatives to
work as a team, for we are the voice of
the people, and we are supposed to
work for the people. Things will not
be changed overnight, but I know
they can be changed. I would like to
discuss a few items that seriously
need our attention.
Our educational system needs
consistent funding support. Our
people go to college for a year and
then receive word that there are no
more funds. When this happens,
these students are not able to continue
their education until maybe the next
year. Our leaders speak of education
but fail to make sure our youth and
others have the funds to carry out
their dreams. Even high school
students need the support of the RTC
so they will excel, but if there is no
future, why should they try? We have
to make sure there are funds for them,
for they are our future.
Our hospital has become a major
concern, and if not taken care of we
will be without accessible health care.
LOS ANGELES (AP) Managers of
a casino on the Morongo Indian
Reservation have pleaded innocent to
federal charges they skimmed $10
million from illegal gambling
machines.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Volney V.
Brown on Monday set bail at $250,000
for each defendant and scheduled trial
for June 29, said Assistant U.S.
Attorney Jonathan Shapiro.
On May 11, a 23-count grand jury
indictment accused Delaware-based
E.C. Investments and four executives
and consultants of running 140 illegal
gambling machines at the Casino
Morongo they ran for the reservation.
Only bingo and certain card games
are allowed at the casino.
The defendants allegedly pocketed
$3.3 million of the estimated $10
million the machines took in since
February 1993 at the Riverside County
casino near Palm Springs, 110 miles
east of Los Angeles, the government
said.
The defendants were charged with
conspiracy, operating an illegal
gambling business, money
laundering, interstate travel in aid of
racketeering and having illegal
gambling devices on Indian land.
The defendants are: E.C. Investments
Inc., also known as Great Western
Casino Inc.; Ira Englander, 66, Los
Angeles; William Armstrong, 41,
Pompano Beach, Fla.; Roger Keesee,
43, Atlanta; and Gyorgy Hargitai, 46,
Budapest, Hungary. Hargitai wasn't in
court and Shapiro wouldn't comment
on his whereabouts.
The case will be tried before U.S.
District Judge Richard A. Gadbois.
Attorney Richard P. Crane Jr., who
represents E.C. Investments, Inc., and
its president, Englander, has called
the prosecution "high-handed action
by the United States."
No members of the Morongo tribe
were indicted, even though the
indictment said the tribal council
granted permission for the gambling
machines.
"Tribal members have cooperated
with and assisted the FBI and U.S.
attorney's office," said attorney
George Forman, who represents the
tribe. If the allegations are true, he
said, "the tribe would feel betrayed by
the company."
Governors, lawmakers press for stricter Indian
gaming regulations
Dahl/
see page 9
Call for support of Oklahoma murder victim
By Shelley Davis
The American Indian Movement in
Oklahoma is calling for all Indian
people and supporters of Indian rights
to come and support the family of
Donald Beartrack, Jr. in a Memorial
Day ceremony to begin at noon at the
Federal Building in Tulsa.
Beartrack was shot in the head at
close range on the morning of March
4, according to authorities. A vehicle
license tag number was written on the
17-year-old's arm in ink and in magic
marker, which led investigators to
three suspects.
Suspect Joe Dale Cox, of Ringling,
is undergoing competency evaluations
but the other two suspects, Bret Lee
Adams, 23, of Watts, and Howard
Russell Murray, 21, of Ringling, were
brought to court for the preliminary
hearing, April 16. All three have been
charged with first degree murder, according to Darrell Dowty, Adair
County Assistant District Attorney.
JoKay Dowell, coordinator for
Northeast Oklahoma ATM, said they
want as many Indians and people who
believe injustice to come in to show
the authorities "we mean business."
"We want to let the authorities know
we don't want any plea bargaining
and we don't want any reduced sentences for these three murderers," said
Dowell. "One of our kids was murdered simply because he's Indian."
Dowell said putting the race issue
aside, this was "a heinous crime and
these people need to be punished for
it. It looks as if the powers that be in
Adair County might, as has always
been, let these guys go."
Before the preliminary hearing be
gan, April 16, a sunrise ceremony was
conducted at the murder site and more
than 50 runners ran about 30 miles to
the courthouse. Upon their arrival,
the family was surrounded by a circle
of supporters and the supporters
prayed.
Julie Moss, Cherokee, said the
Sequoyah High School cross country
running team "carried" the group by
running the entire distance. The week
before the hearing, a "rally for justice"
was conducted at the Adair County
Courthouse. More than 300 people
attended the event.
"We talked about unity, standing up
for ourselves and looking out for our
children," said Dowell "We brought
up the people who have died in jail.
The unsolved, uninvestigated,
Victim/ see page 3
By Melissa B Robinson
WASHINGTON (AP) Rhode
Island's top elected officials Tuesday
asked Congress to stop the
Narragansett Indians from building a
casino in the southern part of the
state.
The officials were among those who
testified at the Senate Select
Committee on Indian Affairs' third
hearing on Indian gaming.
The committee is expected to
propose changes to the Indian Gaming
Regulatory Act of 1988 early next
month, and many states and some
federal lawmakers are pushing for
tighter gaming controls.
U.S. Rep. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J.,
repeated his call for federal
regulations, arguing that Indian
gaming has far outgrown
congressional expectations and is ripe
for infiltration by organized crime.
And the nation's governors asked
the panel to spell out the types of
gaming they must consider allowing
on Indian lands.
"Do we have to negotiate on slot
machines even though slot machines
are not allowed by state law?" asked
Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan,
representing the National Governors'
Association.
Indian casinos are regulated by
compacts negotiated between states
and tribes, and the states are required
to let sovereign nations operate the
same types of gaming that nonprofit
groups or businesses are allowed to
run.
However, federal court rulings are
forcing states to negotiate gambling
options with tribes that are not allowed
elsewhere, and Congress must step in
to clarify the issue, the governors
said.
In California, for instance, a federal
district court ruled that the state,
because it runs electronic lottery ticket
dispensers, must negotiate video
gambling on Indian lands, they said.
Senate Indian Affairs Chairman
Daniel Inouye was cool to the
governors' proposal, arguing that the
states are free to outlaw any types of
gaming they don't want tribes, or
anyone else, to ran.
"I cannot believe that any governor
of any state that I am familiar with
would support the federal government
drawing distinctions between certain
categories of games," said Inouye, a
Hawaii Democrat.
The Rhode Islanders, meanwhile,
want Congress to specify that the
Narragansetts' land in Charlestown,
R.I., is subject to state law, which
prohibits most gambling.
A 1978 federal law made the land
subject to state law, but federal courts
have ruled that the 1988 gaming act
takes precedence, opening the door
for the Narragansetts to propose a
casino on their land.
Gov. Bruce Sundlun and Sens.
Claiborne Pell and John Chafee,
however, insist that it was not the
intent of Congress, in passing the
1988 law, to supersede the previous
law.
"Now, the only way to realize the
original intent, and provide what was
promised to Rhode Island, is tc
amend" the gaming law, Sundlun
testified.
The state has opposed the casino
project, but so far federal courts have
sided with the Indians, who believe
the 1988 act gives them the right to
negotiate a gaming compact with the
state.
"The citizens of Charlestown,
Rhode Island face the very real
possibility that a massive, Las Vegas-
style casino will be built in this quiet,
rural town in direct violation of Rhode
Island law," said Chafee, a
Republican.
"They are worried and angry, and
they feel betrayed by the federal
government," he said.